Marking progress
against child labour
Global estimates and trends 2000-2012
Governance and Tripartism Department
International
Programme on
the Elimination
of Child Labour
(IPEC)
Marking progress against
child labour
Global estimates and trends 2000-2012
Governance and Tripartism Department
International Labour Office
International
Programme on
the Elimination
of Child Labour
(IPEC)
Copyright © International Labour Organization 2013
First published 2013
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Marking progress against child labour - Global estimates and trends 2000-2012 / International Labour Office, International Programme on the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) - Geneva: ILO, 2013.
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International Labour Office; ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)
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ISBN 978-92-2-227181-8 (Print), 978-92-2-227182-5 (Web PDF), Geneva, 2013; in Spanish: Medir los progresos en la lucha contra el trabajo
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Contents
Executive summary............................................................................................ vii
Introduction........................................................................................................1
1. Main results, progress and challenges.............................................................3
New global estimates on the nature and extent of child labour.......................................................... 3
Overview of trends...........................................................................................................3
Other key results.............................................................................................................................. 4
The regional picture.........................................................................................................4
Child labour and gender...................................................................................................5
Child labour and age........................................................................................................6
Child labour and national income......................................................................................7
Sectoral distribution of child labour...................................................................................7
Action driving the estimates and trends............................................................................................ 8
Implementation of ILO Conventions...................................................................................8
Policy choices...............................................................................................................10
Legislation....................................................................................................................11
ILO’s special role...........................................................................................................11
Moving forward..............................................................................................................12
2. The current picture: global child labour estimates for 2012............................15
Overview........................................................................................................................................ 15
Involvement in child labour............................................................................................................. 17
Child labour by region....................................................................................................17
Child labour by age........................................................................................................18
Child labour by sex........................................................................................................18
Involvement in hazardous work....................................................................................................... 20
Hazardous work by region...............................................................................................20
Hazardous work by age...................................................................................................21
Hazardous work by sex...................................................................................................21
Forced labour of children................................................................................................21
Characteristics of child labour......................................................................................................... 23
3. The dynamic picture: trends in child labour for the period 2000-2012............25
Overview........................................................................................................................................ 25
Trends in child labour..................................................................................................................... 28
Regional trends in child labour........................................................................................28
iii
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Age-specific trends in child labour...................................................................................30
Gender-specific trends in child labour..............................................................................31
Trends in hazardous work............................................................................................................... 32
Age-specific trends in hazardous work..............................................................................33
Gender-specific trends in hazardous work.........................................................................34
Changes in the characteristics of child labour................................................................................. 35
4. Looking forward..........................................................................................37
References........................................................................................................41
Annex: concepts and definitions..........................................................................45
FIGURES
Figure 1. Number of actions reported under Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 by type,
1999-2005, 2006-2009 and 2010-2013..........................................................9
Figure 2. Number of children in child labour and hazardous work, actual 2000-2012
and levels for 2016-2020 assuming pace of progress during 2008-2012............13
Figure 3. Child labour by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012...........................................17
Figure 4. Child labour distribution by age group, 2012.....................................................18
Figure 5. Children in child labour by sex and age group, 2012..........................................19
Figure 6. Children in hazardous work by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012......................20
Figure 7. Hazardous work distribution by age group, 2012................................................21
Figure 8. Sectoral distribution of children in child labour, 5-17 years age group, 2012.......22
Figure 9. Children in child labour by status in employment, 5-17 years age group, 2012....23
Figure 10.Global trends in incidence of child labour and hazardous work,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012...................................................................25
Figure 11.Global trends in number of children in child labour and hazardous work,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012...................................................................26
Figure 12.Regional trends in number of children in child labour, 5-17 years age group,
2008 and 2012.............................................................................................28
Figure 13.Regional trends in incidence of child labour, 5-17 years age group,
2008 and 2012.............................................................................................29
Figure 14.Changes in the regional distribution of children in child labour,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012.............................................................29
Figure 15.Trends in child labour by age group, 2000-2012...............................................30
Figure 16.Trends in child labour by sex, 5-17 years age group, 2000-2012........................31
Figure 17.Relative changes in child labour and hazardous work,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012...................................................................32
Figure 18.Trends in hazardous work by age group, 2000-2012..........................................33
Figure 19.Trends in hazardous work by sex, 5-17 years age group, 2000-2012...................34
iv
Figure 20.Child labour trends in the economic sector and in the status in the employment,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012.............................................................35
Figure 21.Children in employment, child labour and worst forms of child labour..................46
Figure 22.Conceptual framework of the ILO global estimation of child labour......................47
TABLES
Table 1. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012.....................................................................3
Table 2. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by region,
5-17 years age group, 2012..............................................................................4
Table 3. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by region,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012...............................................................5
Table 4. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by sex,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012.....................................................................6
Table 5. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by age group,
2000-2012.....................................................................................................6
Table 6. Child labour distribution by level of national income,
5-17 years age group, 2012..............................................................................7
Table 7. Sectoral distribution of child labour, number and percentage share,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012...............................................................8
Table 8. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by sex,
age group and region, 2012.............................................................................15
Table 9. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by sex
and age group, 2000-2012.............................................................................27
Table 10. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by region,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012.............................................................27
v
Executive summary
Since the year 2000, the ILO has been taking
stock and measuring global progress on the
reduction of child labour. Since 2006, it has
undertaken this analysis in light of the target
set by the International Labour Organization of
eliminating all the worst forms of child labour
by 2016. This report follows the Global Report
series on child labour under the follow up to the
ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and
Rights at Work. Its focus is on the presentation
of the new fourth round of child labour estimates
for 2012 and to identify the trends from 2000
to 2012. The estimates are based on refined
estimation techniques fully comparable with the
ones for 2000, 2004 and 2008 rounds.
The Report is divided into four parts. Chapter 1
presents the main results of the newest estimates
and trends as well as a brief overview of the
driving action behind the results. Chapter 2
provides the details on the newest estimates for
the year 2012. Chapter 3 presents a dynamic
global picture updating the trends for the period
2000-2012. Chapter 4 sets out some pointers
on the way forward. The publication of this
Report is timed to provide input into the III Global
Conference on Child Labour being held in Brasilia
in October 2013.
In contrast to the results reported in the 2010
Global Report, which were published before the
Global Conference on Child Labour held in The
Hague in May 2010, the newest estimates show
that real advances have been made in the fight
against child labour, particularly over the last four
years. This means governments, workers and
employers organisations, and civil society are on
the right track and moving in the right direction.
The investment, experience and attention paid to
the elimination of child labour, with priority given
to its worst forms, are clearly paying off.
However good this news is, it has to be
accompanied with an immediate reminder that
success in this field can only be relative. As
the assessment of the previous Global Report
underlined, the progress is still too slow and its
pace needs to pick up if the world community
is going to come anywhere near to meeting the
2016 goal which it aims to achieve.
The new estimates presented in this Report
indicate that 168 million children worldwide are
in child labour, accounting for almost 11 per
cent of the child population as a whole. Children
in hazardous work that directly endangers their
health, safety and moral development make up
more than half of all child labourers, numbering
85 million in absolute terms. The largest absolute
number of child labourers is found in the Asia
and the Pacific region but Sub-Saharan Africa
continues to be the region with the highest
incidence of child labour with more than one in
five children in child labour.
For the 12-year period beginning in 2000, the
dynamic picture is one of significant progress.
vii
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
There were almost 78 million fewer child labourers
at the end of this period than at the beginning, a
reduction of almost one-third. The fall in girls in
child labour was particularly pronounced –there
was a reduction of 40 per cent in the number
of girls in child labour as compared to 25 per
cent for boys. The total number of children in
hazardous work, which comprises by far the
largest share of those in the worst forms of child
labour, declined by over half. Also progress was
especially pronounced among younger children,
with child labour for this group falling by over onethird between 2000 and 2012.
The decline in child labour was greatest during
the most recent four-year period (2008-2012).
The Asia and the Pacific region registered by far
the largest absolute decline in child labour among
5-17 year-olds for the 2008-2012.
This recent progress is very welcome news, as
there were fears that the social hardship caused
by the global economic crisis of 2008-2009 and
its aftermath could result in an increase in the
number of families resorting to child labour in
order to make ends meet. The Report suggests
reasons why this has not occurred and cautions
that close attention must be paid to the risk of
child labour among older children when the global
economy starts to recover. In many countries the
progress that has been achieved is fragile and
must be monitored and strengthened to ensure
sustainability.
For the first time, global estimates of child
labour are presented for different levels of national
income. The incidence of child labour is not
surprisingly highest in poorer countries. However
when seen in absolute terms middle-income
countries are host to the largest numbers of child
labourers. Therefore the fight against child labour
is by no means limited to the poorest countries.
The same general pattern holds true across
households within countries – child labour is
much more common in poorer households but is
not limited to poor households.
The new global estimates also provide an
update on the sectors where child labourers are
viii
found. Agriculture is by far the most important
sector, but the numbers of child labourers in
services and industry are by no means negligible.
This means that while addressing child labour
in the agriculture sector remains an important
priority, it is clear that child labour elimination
efforts must also focus on the growing share of
children in services and in manufacturing – mostly
found in the informal economy.
How has this progress over the last 12 years
occurred? The decline in child labour has taken
place against the backdrop of a sustained
global movement against child labour involving
a multiplicity of actors and efforts at a variety of
levels. The report identifies a number of actions
that have driven progress, including political
commitment of governments, increasing number
of ratifications of the ILO Convention No. 182
on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the
parallel surge of the ILO Convention No. 138 on
the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment,
the two principal legal pillars for the global fight
against child labour, sound policy choices, as well
as solid legislative frameworks.
No one can take sole credit for this result, but
many – including ILO and IPEC – have helped
draw attention to the negative impacts of child
labour on growth, on the future of the societies
in which they live, and on the rights of these
children. And many actors have contributed to
building alternatives to child labour. The ILO’s role
in leading the fight against child labour through
the combination of international labour standards
and its supervisory system, technical advisory
assistance, support of direct action pilots, capacity
building projects, as well as helping to craft
global and national frameworks deserves special
mention.
We have argued in the Global Reports on child
labour that while economic growth is important,
policy choices can matter even more. Never has
this been more apparent than in the most recent
(2008-2012) period covered by the Report,
which saw continued progress against child
labour despite the global economic crisis and its
aftermath. Increased attention, commitment and
ownership by governments are evident. Policy
choices and accompanying investments that have
been made in education and social protection
appear particularly relevant to the decline in child
labour.
The significant progress that has been
made demonstrates that the overall strategy as
set out in the ILO action plans including The
Hague Roadmap appears to be sound and
producing positive results in terms of strategic
policy direction. The integration of action being
taken in legislation and enforcement, education,
social protection and promotion of decent work
opportunities at the national and community
levels appears to be a formula for success.
Supporting the direct action on the ground with
this upstream policy development, implementation
and monitoring must remain a high priority for
governments and organizations of workers and
employers as well as for the donors and other
supporting partners.
The key question looking forward is whether
we are moving fast enough and targeting action
where it is most needed and effective. Clearly the
2016 target date for the elimination of worst forms
will not be met. We have warned in previous
Global Reports against the danger of complacency
and these results add further credence to this
warning. Though significant progress has been
made, ending the scourge of child labour in the
foreseeable future is going to require a substantial
acceleration of efforts at all levels. There are 168
million good reasons to do so.
Past experience and evidence from research
highlight the particular need to continue to
reinforce actions in the four broad policy areas
mentioned above: legislation and enforcement
mechanisms on minimum age and prohibited
work for children, accessible, relevant, and
meaningful education and skill development,
social protection floors and expanded decent work
opportunities for youth above the minimum age
for admission to employment and parents.
The Report also identifies the need to reinforce
action in relation to age and gender specific
responses to child labour, a continued focus on
Africa, a continued focus on agriculture and a
new focus on manufacturing and services in the
informal economy and strengthening national
action on monitoring and evaluation of the impact
of policies and actions taken on child labour. We
must all continue to learn by doing as well as to be
innovative and bold in tackling the root causes of
child labour.
Another set of suggestions focus on continuing
to build the knowledge base, strengthening
statistics where they exist and establishing
national statistical data sets in all countries.
Insufficient information cannot be a justification
for failure to act. But at the same time,
improving information on child labour is critical
to strengthening policy responses and to making
certain that resources go to where the need is
greatest.
The main message of this Report will hopefully
foster hope and determination to stay the course,
accelerate the pace and reinforce action. Our
work in the elimination of child labour is not
near done, but the results of the fourth round of
estimates shows clearly that it can be done.
ix
Introduction
This is the fourth issue of the ILO’s report
series: Global Estimates on Child Labour.1 The
present Report provides new global and regional
estimates on child labour for the year 2012 and
compares them with the previous estimates for
20002, 20043 and 2008.4
The Report draws on an increasing amount
of data from national-level child labour
surveys (SIMPOC surveys)5 and other sources.
Understanding Children’s Work (UCW), an interagency programme on child labour statistics and
research, provided access to non-ILO data and
assisted in the analysis.6
The new child labour estimates are based on
1
Previously (in 2002, 2006 and 2010), the Global Estimates on Child
Labour were released at the same time with and analyzed within
the respective year’s Global Report on Child Labour by the Director
General under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work. The said series of “Global Reports”
under the 1998 Declaration was discontinued in 2011.
2
ILO-IPEC. Every Child Counts – New Global Estimates on Child
Labour. ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2002).
3
ILO-IPEC. Hagemann F., et al.: Global child labour trends 2000
to 2004. ILO International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2006).
4
ILO-IPEC. Diallo Y., et al.: Global child labour developments:
Measuring trends from 2004 to 2008. ILO International Programme
on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2010).
5
The ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme
on Child Labour (SIMPOC) is the statistical arm of IPEC. SIMPOC
assists countries in the collection, documentation, processing
and analysis of child labour relevant data.
6
The Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) programme, is a joint
programme by the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank.
refined estimation techniques fully comparable
with the ones for 2000, 2004 and 2008 rounds.
They also benefited from: (a) the international
standards on child labour statistics adopted by
the 18th International Conference of Labour
Statisticians (ICLS) in 2008; and (b) an integrated
approach to estimation using standardized
tabulation schemes for national data and
composite estimation procedures for arriving at
regional and global trends.7
The remainder of the Report is structured as
follows. Chapter 1 highlights the main estimation
findings for 2012. Chapter 2 presents the current
child labour situation. Chapter 3 presents the
dynamic child labour situation, comparing
estimation results from 2012 with those of 2000,
2004 and 2008. For Chapters 2 and 3, data are
disaggregated to the extent possible by age group,
sex, region, branch of economic activity, national
income category and status in employment.
Chapter 4 provides some pointers for the way
forward. The Annex spells out the concepts and
methodology underlying the global child labour
estimates.
7
A separate technical publication provides a full account of the
estimation methodology and underlying data. See ILO-IPEC.
Diallo, Y., et al. : Global child labour trends 2008 to 2012. ILO
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
(IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2013).
1
1
Main results, progress
and challenges
New global estimates on the nature and extent of child labour
Far too many children in the world remain trapped
in child labour, compromising their individual
and our collective futures. The new estimates
presented in this Report indicate that 168 million
children worldwide are child labourers, accounting
for almost 11 per cent of the child population
as a whole. Children in hazardous work that
directly endangers their health, safety and moral
development make up almost half of all child
labourers, numbering 85 million in absolute terms.
The risk of child labour is highest for children
in sub-Saharan Africa, where one child in every
five is in child labour. Taken together, the results
presented in this Report make it clear that a world
without child labour is still too far in the future.
Overview of trends
But the latest global estimate results also
indicate clearly that we are moving in the
right direction in this regard. As a result of ILO
statistical efforts, in this fourth round of the global
estimates we are able to put together a dynamic
picture of the global child labour situation for the
12-year period beginning in 2000. This dynamic
picture is one of significant progress. There
were almost 78 million fewer child labourers at
the end of this period than at the beginning, a
reduction of almost one-third. The fall in girls in
child labour was particularly pronounced – in the
period 2000‑2012 there was a reduction of 40
per cent in the number of girls child labourers as
compared to 25 per cent for boys.
Table 1. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work, 5-17 years age group, 2000-2012
Children in employment
World
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
2000
351,900
23.0
245,500
16.0
170,500
11.1
2004
322,729
20.6
222,294
14.2
128,381
8.2
2008
305,669
19.3
215,209
13.6
115,314
7.3
2012
264,427
16.7
167,956
10.6
85,344
5.4
3
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Reducing children’s involvement in the worst
forms of child labour is the most urgent child
labour-related challenges facing the global
community and the significant progress in this
regard is therefore especially noteworthy. The total
number of children aged 5-17 years in hazardous
work, which comprises by far the largest share of
those in the worst forms of child labour, declined
by over half during this 12-year period, from 171
to 85 million.
The decline in child labour was greatest during
the most recent four-year period (2008-2012)
covered by this Report. The number of child
labourers decreased by 47 million, from 215
to 168 million, and the number of children in
hazardous work declined by 30 million, from 115
million to 85 million, over this period. This recent
progress is very welcome news, as there were
fears that the social hardship caused by the global
economic crisis of 2008-2009 and its aftermath
would result in an increase in the number of
families resorting to child labour in order to make
ends meet. Why has this not occurred? At least
two reasons are likely to be the most important.
First, while developing economies were not spared
by the crisis, they have generally been quicker to
rebound from its effects, although often on a lower
growth path. Second, for older children, it is likely
that the slower economic growth in the aftermath
of the crisis has dampened labour demand,
including demand for workers falling in the 15-17
years age group. This argues for close attention to
the risk of child labour among older children when
the global economy starts to recover.
But another key lesson of this decline is that
attention to child labour by States, employers and
workers, and other key stakeholders has borne
fruit. No one can take sole credit for this result,
but many – including ILO and IPEC – have helped
draw attention to the negative impacts of child
labour on growth, on the future of the societies
in which they live, and on the rights of these
children. And many actors have contributed to
building alternatives to child labour. These are the
lessons that will continue to drive ILO‑IPEC action
in the future.
Other key results
In addition to the global results reported above,
the current Report presents new child labour
estimates disaggregated by region, sex, age
group and national income level. The Report also
assesses the characteristics of child labour and
how these have changed over time. The key results
in each of these areas are presented below.
The regional picture
The largest absolute number of child labourers
is found in the Asia and the Pacific region but
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region
with the highest incidence of child labour, even
though there has been a decline there. For the
overall 5-17 years age group, child labourers
number almost 77.7 million in Asia and the
Pacific. For the same age group, there are 59.0
million child labourers in Sub-Saharan Africa,
12.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean
(LAC) and 9.2 million in the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA). Seen in relative terms,
however, the biggest concern remains the
Table 2. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
Region(a)
Children in employment
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
129,358
15.5
77,723
9.3
33,860
4.1
Latin America and the Caribbean
17,843
12.5
12,505
8.8
9,638
6.8
Sub Saharan Africa
83,570
30.3
59,031
21.4
28,767
10.4
Middle East and North Africa
13,307
12.1
9,244
8.4
5,224
4.7
Asia and the Pacific
Note: (a) The regional totals sum to less than the world totals because the latter include countries that are outside of the four
main regions reported here.
4
Table 3. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by region, 5-17 years age group,
2008 and 2012
Region
Asia and the Pacific
Children
population
Children in
employment
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
2008
853,895
174,460
20.4
113,607
13.3
48,164
5.6
2012
835,334
129,358
15.5
77,723
9.3
33,860
4.1
Latin America and
the Caribbean
2008
141,043
18,851
13.4
14,125
10.0
9,436
6.7
2012
142,693
17,843
12.5
12,505
8.8
9,638
6.8
Sub-Saharan Africa
2008
257,108
84,229
32.8
65,064
25.3
38,736
15.1
2012
275,397
83,570
30.3
59,031
21.4
28,767
10.4
Sub-Saharan Africa region. There, more than one
in five children (21 per cent) in the 5-17 years
age group are in child labour. This compares with
9 per cent in Asia and the Pacific and LAC and
8 per cent in MENA.
The Asia and the Pacific region registered by far
the largest absolute decline in child labour among
5-17 year-olds for the 2008-2012 period, from 114
million to 78 million. The number of child labourers
in the same age group also decreased in SubSaharan Africa (by 6 million), and modestly in LAC
(by 1.6 million). It is worth noting that the decline in
child labourers in Sub-Saharan Africa region, unlike
the other regions, occurred against the backdrop of
a significant increase in the child population. This
means that the decline was entirely attributable
to a fall in child labour incidence rather than to
demographic factors.
The net impact of these changes is that
the worldwide population of child labourers
has become more concentrated in the SubSaharan Africa region. While Sub-Saharan Africa
accounted for 30 per cent of all 5-17 year-olds in
child labour in 2008, four years later this figure
had risen to 35 per cent.
Data shortcomings, however, mean that the
regional child labour picture still remains only
partial. There are insufficient data to generate
separate estimates for the Eastern European
and Central Asia regions, for the Pacific and
the Caribbean countries or for the industrialised
economies.
Child labour and gender
Child labour involvement is much higher
among boys than girls for the 5-17 years age
group as a whole (99.8 million boys versus 68.2
million girls). The magnitude of the decline in
child labour among girls was greater than that of
boys, and the gender gap in terms of involvement
in employment therefore increased over the
2000-2012 period. While girls accounted 46.2 per
cent of all child labourers in 2000 they accounted
for only 40.6 per cent in 2012. But it should be
noted that these figures might underestimate
girls’ involvement in child labour relative to that
of boys as they do not reflect involvement in
household chores, particularly hazardous chores,
a dimension of child labour that is not included in
the global estimates.8 Other information available
to the ILO indicates that girls may also be more
present in less visible and therefore underreported forms of child labour such as domestic
work in private households.
8
While, according to the latest international statistical standards,
the definition of child labour for measurement purposes can
extend to include “hazardous household chores”, this dimension
of child labour is not included in the global estimates. This is
due to data shortcomings and due to the lack of consensus
around what constitutes hazardous household chores for the
purpose of child labour measurement. See “Resolution II,
Resolution concerning statistics of child labour” in ILO. Report
of the Conference. 18th International Conference of Labour
Statisticians (ICLS), document ICLS/18/2008/IV/FINAL. Geneva,
24 November-5 December 2008.
5
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Table 4. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by sex, 5-17 years age group,
2000-2012
Sex
Boys
Girls
Children in employment
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
2000
184,200
23.4
132,200
16.8
95,700
12.2
2004
171,150
21.3
119,575
14.9
74,414
9.3
2008
175,777
21.4
127,761
15.6
74,019
9.0
2012
148,327
18.1
99,766
12.2
55,048
6.7
2000
167,700
22.5
113,300
15.2
74,800
10.0
2004
151,579
19.9
102,720
13.5
53,966
7.1
2008
129,892
16.9
87,508
11.4
41,296
5.4
2012
116,100
15.2
68,190
8.9
30,296
4.0
Child labour and age
this age group over the 2000-2012 period there
was a sharp rise in child labour between 2004 and
2008. Again, these fluctuations are a reminder of
the close link between older child labourers and
the cyclical evolution of the economy. This group
of older child labourers, numbering 47.5 million,
will clearly also require close policy attention
moving forward.
Children in the 5-11 years age group account
for by far the largest share of all child labourers:
73 million, or 44 per cent of the total child labour
population. These young child labourers constitute
a particular policy concern as they are the most
vulnerable to workplace abuses and compromised
education. It is encouraging therefore that
progress was especially pronounced among
younger children, with child labour for this group
falling by over one-third (65.9 million) between
2000 and 2012. Progress fluctuated among
older, 15-17 year-old children. While there was an
absolute decline in child labour of 11.7 million for
Table 5. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by age group, 2000-2012
Children in employment
Age group
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
5-11 years
2012
73,072
8.5
73,072
8.5
18,499
2.2
12-14 years
2012
70,994
19.6
47,381
13.1
19,342
5.3
5-14 years
2000
211,000
17.6
186,300
15.5
111,300
9.3
2004
196,047
16.2
170,383
14.1
76,470
6.3
2008
176,452
14.5
152,850
12.6
52,895
4.3
2012
144,066
11.8
120,453
9.9
37,841
3.1
2000
140,900
42.4
59,200
17.8
59,200
17.8
2004
126,682
35.2
51,911
14.4
51,911
14.4
2008
129,217
35.0
62,419
16.9
62,419
16.9
2012
120,362
33.0
47,503
13.0
47,503
13.0
15-17 years
6
Child labour and national income9
For the first time, global estimates of child
labour are presented for different levels of national
income. The incidence of child labour is not
surprisingly highest in poorer countries. Twentythree per cent of children in low-income countries
are child labourers, compared to 9 per cent of
children in lower middle-income countries and
to 6 per cent of children in upper middle-income
countries.
When seen in absolute terms, the picture is
somewhat different. Middle-income countries are
host to the largest numbers of child labourers:
there are a total of 93.6 million child labourers in
middle-income countries, of which 12.3 million
are in upper middle-income countries, while child
labourers in low-income countries number 74.4
million. The fight against child labour, therefore, is
by no means limited to the poorest countries.
Another recent ILO report indicates that the
same general pattern holds across households
within countries – child labour is much more
common in poorer households but is not limited to
poor households.10 Indeed, we know from countrylevel statistics11 that there are substantial numbers
of child labourers from households in the higher
income quintiles in most developing countries.
These results make it clear that while income
and poverty are important determinants of child
labour, they are in no way the only reasons
families send their children to work. This in turn
indicates that action oriented towards raising
national and family income levels is important but
will not be sufficient in and of itself to eliminate
child labour.
Sectoral distribution of child labour
The new global estimates also provide an
update on the sectors where child labourers are
found. Agriculture is by far the most important
sector, accounting for 59 per cent of all those
in child labour and over 98 million children
in absolute terms. But the numbers of child
labourers in services12 and industry13 are by no
means negligible. A total of 54 million are found
in the services sector (of which 11.5 million are
in domestic work) and 12 million are found in
industry. Boys outnumber girls in all sectors
with the important exception of domestic work,
a form of work that is hidden from public view
and outside the reach of workplace inspections,
leaving these children particularly vulnerable to
exploitation and abuse.
Table 6. Child labour distribution by level of national income, 5-17 years age group, 2012
National income category
Total children
Child labour
Child labour
(‘000)
(‘000)
(%)
Low income
330,257
74,394
22.5
Lower middle income
902,174
81,306
9.0
Upper middle income
197,977
12,256
6.2
9
The incidence of child labour is not estimated for high income
countries due to data limitations.
10
ILO-IPEC. World report on child labour: Economic vulnerability,
social protection and the fight against child labour. ILO
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
(IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2013).
11
UCW Country Statistics database on child labour, available at:
www.ucw-project.org/Pages/ChildLabIndicator.aspx.
12
The service sub-sectors of most relevance for child labour
include hotels and restaurant, wholesale and retail trade
(commerce); maintenance and repair of motor vehicle;
transport; other community, social and personal service activities;
and domestic work.
13
The industry sub-sectors of most relevance for child labour
include construction, mining and manufacturing.
7
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
There appears to have been an increase in the
relative importance of child labour in services in
recent years. The share of total child labourers in
services rose from 26 per cent in 2008 to 32 per
cent in 2012. Some of this increase could be due
in part to the fact that fewer child labourers are
in “not defined” category in 2012, pointing to a
better measurement of children in services sector,
in particular those in the informal economy.
These global results are consistent with trends
observed in countries such as Mexico, Brazil,
and Indonesia which also show that child labour
outside the agriculture sector, and particularly
child labour in services, is gaining in relative
importance. While addressing child labour in the
agriculture sector remains an important priority,
it is clear that child labour elimination efforts
must also focus on the growing share of children
in services and the non-negligible number of
children in manufacturing.
Table 7. Sectoral distribution of child labour, number and percentage share, 5-17 years age group,
2008 and 2012
Sector(a)
2008
2012
(‘000)
% share
(‘000)
% share
129,161
60.0
98,422
58.6
Industry
15,068
7.0
12,092
7.2
Services
55,109
25.6
54,250
32.3
(10,557)
(4.9)
(11,528)
(6.9)
Agriculture
(of which domestic work)
Note: (a) Excluding children with missing information on economic sector.
Action driving the estimates and trends
How has this progress over the last 12 years
occurred? The decline in child labour has taken
place against the backdrop of a sustained global
movement against child labour involving a
multiplicity of actors and efforts at a variety of levels.
Implementation of ILO Conventions
Political commitment by governments has
been fundamental during the last 12 years. This
commitment is perhaps best illustrated by the
historically rapid ratification of the ILO Convention
No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and
the parallel surge of the ILO Convention No. 138 on
the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment,
the two principal legal pillars for the global fight
against child labour.14 Convention No.15182 –
adopted in 1999 – has recorded the fastest pace of
14
To date, Convention No. 138 has been ratified by 166 States and
Convention No. 182 by 177, out of 185 member States of the
ILO, both approaching the goal of universal ratification.
15
To date, Convention No.138 has been ratified by 166 States and
Convention No.182 by 177, out of 185 member States of the ILO,
both approaching the goal of universal ratification.
8
ratification ever among ILO Conventions, and 2000
was the year in which Convention No. 138 crossed
the mark of 100 ratifications. In ratifying these
Conventions, countries are formally acknowledging
that child labour is no longer acceptable and are
taking on responsibility for ending it. On ratification,
States also agree to report to the ILO on a regular
basis their progress in implementation, thus
assuming the responsibility of accountability to
the international community. Figure 1 lists followup actions reported by ratifying States under
Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 as noted by the
ILO’s Committee of Experts on the Application of
Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR).
These ILO standards on child labour have
acquired recognition as part of the internationally
accepted standards relating to children’s rights.
For instance, the UN Committee on the Rights of
the Child has always taken ILO standards on child
labour as the benchmark for assessing the situation
of economic exploitation in examining periodic
reports from States Parties to the Convention on the
Figure 1. Number of actions reported under Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 by type, 1999-2005,
2006-2009 and 2010-2013
Monitoring mechanisms
Special attention children most at risk
National CL policy formulated
Withdrawal & rehabilitation
Prevention
Plans of Action
Any other penal and other sanctions
Prohibition of hazardous work
Legislative prohibitions on trafficking
Determination of hazardous work
Measures to ensure universal basic education
Adoption/amendment of legislation on minimum age
Legislative prohibitions on pornography
Legislative prohibitions on prostitution
Legislative prohibitions on illicit activities
Definition and regulation of light work
Legislative prohibitions on child soldiers
2010-2013
Special attention girls
2006-2009
Legislative prohibitions on forced labour, bondage
1999-2005
Legislative prohibitions on slavery
IPEC supported Time-bound measures
Other Time-bound measures
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Rights of the Child (CRC). This inter-linkage of ILO
and CRC has been underlined on many occasions
in UN Resolutions and reports.16
16
See, for example, United Nations Secretary-General. Status of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN document A/64/172.
Sixty-fourth session of the UN General Assembly, 27 July 2009,
Item 67 (a) of the provisional agenda, Promotion and protection
of the rights of children. Its paragraph 13 offers a simple
definition of child labour by stating that : “Child labour concerns
work for which the child is either too young — work done
below the required minimum age — or work which, because
of its detrimental nature or conditions, is altogether considered
unacceptable for children and is prohibited.” This is a simpler
statement of the requirements of ILO standards.
9
© ILO/M. Crozet
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Policy choices
Indeed, more important than the political
and legal commitments per se is the fact that
these commitments have been accompanied by
sound policy choices, as well as solid legislative
frameworks. We have argued in the Global
Reports on child labour that while economic
growth is important, policy choices can matter
even more. Never has this been more apparent
than in the most recent (2008-2012) period
covered by the Report, which saw continued
progress against child labour despite the global
economic crisis and its aftermath.
Policy choices and accompanying investments
that have been made in two areas appear
particularly relevant to the decline in child labour
over the last 12 years. The first is education. The
worldwide Education For All (EFA) movement
has helped marshal major new investments in
improving school access and quality, which in turn
has provided more families with the opportunity
to send their children to school rather than to the
workplace and has made it worthwhile for them
to do so. It is not chance that the rapid decline in
10
child labour since 2000 coincided with a major
increase in school attendance. Nonetheless,
breaking the link between child labour and
educational disadvantage remains a major
challenge, as highlighted by a recent report by the
UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon
Brown.17
The second policy area is social protection.
While extending access to social security also
remains a pressing challenge globally, there
is clear multi-country evidence indicating that
investments in social security are associated with
lower levels of child labour.18 Again, this is not
coincidental: social security can be essential to
mitigating the social and economic vulnerabilities
that can lead families to resort to child labour.
17
Brown, Gordon. Child Labor & Educational Disadvantage –
Breaking the Link, Building Opportunity. A Review by Gordon
Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education
(London, 2012).
18
ILO-IPEC. World report on child labour: Economic vulnerability,
social protection and the fight against child labour. ILO
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
(IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2013).
ILO’s special role
Good national legislation on child labour – in
line with international labour standards – is a
fundamental basis for all action, and in particular,
in defining what constitutes child labour to be
eliminated,19 and providing the basis for efforts
to gather statistical information on child labour.
Above all, it is legislation that sets forth specific
rights and responsibilities (not only of individuals
but also of the State and various bodies and
authorities), and permits legal remedies for victims
and sanctions for violators. Many countries have
recently been taking action for the establishment
or revision of their lists of what constitutes
hazardous work, and including the prohibition of
these kinds of work for anyone under 18 years of
age as part of enforceable legislation.20
The ILO’s special role in the elimination of
child labour cannot be overemphasized. Its great
advantage is the involvement of its social partners
(employers’ and workers’ organizations) along
with governments in all its action as participants
and not as simple observers. This is imperative in
promoting the agenda of eliminating child labour
as a vital part of the development agenda of a
country, as well as in mobilizing both businesses
and the people working therein.
Moreover, the ILO has been playing a key role
in providing an impetus to and framework for
global efforts against child labour, both through
its standard-setting and technical assistance.
Standard-setting is not limited to the adoption21
of Conventions and Recommendations but also
© ILO/M. Crozet
Legislation
19
ILO-IPEC and UCW. Joining forces against child labour. Interagency report for The Hague Global Child Labour Conference of
2010. ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2010). See Chapter 7, in particular.
20
Several reports and tools concerning hazardous child labour are
available in the hazardous work page of the ILO-IPEC website
at: http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/WorstFormsofChildLabour/
Hazardouschildlabour/lang--en/index.htm.
21
However, the adoption of new standards greatly increases
international attention and action on specific topics. One recent
example is child labour in domestic work, through the adoption
by the ILO of a new Convention No. 189 and Recommendation
No. 201 in 2011. See for details: ILO-IPEC. Ending child labour
in domestic work and protecting young workers from abusive
working conditions. Report for the World Day Against Child
Labour 2013. ILO International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2013).
11
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Moving forward
© ILO/M. Crozet
includes the continued international monitoring
through reporting as demonstrated in the above
Figure 1 – showing the specific action taken
by each ratifying State in terms of the specific
commitments made through the Conventions.
The ILO has also been providing technical
advirsory assistance and support for setting
action plans at the global level – from that of 2006
following up on the second Global Report on
child labour,22 through the one in 2010 including
The Hague Roadmap. The significant progress
that has been made over the last twelve years and
in particular over the last four years demonstrates
that the global direction is on the right course.
The overall strategy as set out in The Hague
Roadmap appears to be sound and producing
positive results in terms of policy direction.
22
12
This report was the origin of the target for eliminating the worst
forms of child labour in 10 years, i.e. by 2016, encouraged by
the sharp decrease in hazardous work shown in the very first
trend analysis.
The key question looking forward is whether
we are moving fast enough and taking action
where it is most needed and effective. Clearly
the 2016 target date for the elimination of worst
forms will not be met. This point is illustrated in
Figure 2, which shows the decline in child labour
and hazardous work that will occur during the
2012-2020 period if the pace of progress during
2008-2012 is maintained. This shows that at the
current pace we will fall substantially short of our
2016 target. Indeed, even reaching this goal four
years later, in 2020, would require an increase
in the annual rate of reduction from the current
6.5 per cent to 24 per cent. We have warned
in previous Global Reports against the danger
of complacency and these results add further
credence to this warning. Clearly, “business as
usual” is not enough. Though significant progress
has been made, ending the scourge of child
labour in the foreseeable future is going to require
a substantial acceleration of efforts at all levels.
The benefits to ending child labour cannot
be overstated. Children who grow up free from
child labour have the opportunity to realize fully
their rights to education, leisure and healthy
development, in turn helping them to make a
successful transition into decent work upon
completing their education and to be contributing
members of society as adults. The costs of
inaction are equally clear. Child labour can
seriously endanger children’s immediate health
and safety, as well as their health status later in
life. This is particularly the case for the children in
the worst forms of child labour. Child labour also
compromises children’s ability to enrol and stay
in school, and to benefit from the time they do
spend in the classroom. As has been highlighted
in previous Global Reports, turning a blind eye
to child labour can erode the fabric of societies
and can impoverish or even destroy the human
capital needed for economic growth and poverty
reduction.
Figure 2. Number of children in child labour and hazardous work, actual 2000-2012 and levels for
2016-2020 assuming pace of progress during 2008-2012
The current pace of progress is too slow to reach the 2016 target of eliminating worst forms of child
labour.
300
Actual
246
250
millions
200
222
215
171
150
Evolution based
on pace of progress
during 2008-2012
168
128
134
115
107
85
100
65
50
50
0
2000
2004
Child labour
2008
2012
2016
2020
Hazardous work
13
The current picture: global
child labour estimates
for 2012
2
Overview
Child labour remains much too common in
the world, although it has decreased significantly
since 2000. Child labourers in the 5-17 years age
group number 168 million, amounting to almost
11 per cent of all children in this age group.
Children in hazardous work directly endangering
their health, safety and moral development
make up more than half of all child labourers,
numbering 85 million in absolute terms. Children
in employment, who comprise both child
labourers and children in forms of employment
not constituting child labour, number 264 million,
Table 8. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by sex, age group and region, 2012
Sex, age group and region
Age group
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
1,585,566
264,427
16.7
167,956
10.6
85,344
5.4
Boys
819,877
148,327
18.1
99,766
12.2
55,048
6.7
Girls
765,690
116,100
15.2
68,190
8.9
30,296
4.0
5-11 years
858,925
73,072
8.5
73,072
8.5
18,499
2.2
12-14 years
362,146
70,994
19.6
47,381
13.1
19,342
5.3
1,221,071
144,066
11.8
120,453
9.9
37,841
3.1
15-17 years
364,495
120,362
33.0
47,503
13.0
47,503
13.0
Asia and the Pacific
835,334
129,358
15.5
77,723
9.3
33,860
4.1
Latin America and
the Caribbean
142,693
17,843
12.5
12,505
8.8
9,638
6.8
Sub Saharan Africa
275,397
83,570
30.3
59,031
21.4
28,767
10.4
MENA
110,411
13,307
12.1
9,244
8.4
5,224
4.7
5-14 years
Region
Children in
employment
(‘000)
World (5-17 years)
Sex
Total
children
15
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Statistical concepts and definitions used in this Report
Three main international conventions – the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the
International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the ILO
Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment – together set the legal boundaries
for child labour and provide the legal basis for national and international actions against it. The Resolution
concerning statistics of child labour (Resolution II) adopted at the 18th International Conference of Labour
Statisticians (ICLS) in 2008(a) translates these legal standards into statistical terms for the purpose of child
labour measurement. The statistical concepts and definitions used in this Report are in accordance with this
ICLS resolution.
Hazardous work is a subcategory of child labour, which is in turn, a subcategory of children in employment.
Children in
employment
Child labour
Hazardous work and other
worst forms of child labour
Children in employment are those engaged in any economic activity for at least one hour during the reference
period. Economic activity covers all market production and certain types of non-market production (principally
the production of goods and services for own use). It includes forms of work in both the formal and informal
economies; inside and outside family settings; work for pay or profit (in cash or in kind, part-time or full-time),
or as a domestic worker outside the child’s own household for an employer (with or without pay). The terms
“working children” and “children in employment” are used interchangeably in this publication. Both denote a
broader concept than child labour.
Children in child labour are a subset of children in employment. They include those in the worst forms of
child labour and children in employ­ment below the minimum age, excluding children in permissible light
work, if appli­cable. Child labour is therefore a narrower concept than “children in employment”; child labour
excludes those children who are working only a few hours a week in permitted light work and those above
the minimum age whose work is not classified as a worst form of child labour, including “hazardous work” in
particular.
Hazardous work by children is defined as any activity or occupation that, by its nature or type, has or leads to
adverse effects on the child’s safety, health and moral development. In general, hazardous work may include
night work and long hours of work; exposure to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; work underground,
under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; work with dangerous machinery, equipment and
tools, or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; and work in an unhealthy environment
which may, for example, expose children hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures,
noise levels, or vibrations damaging their health. Hazardous work by children is often treated as a proxy for
the Worst Forms of Child Labour. This is for two reasons. First, reliable national data on the worst forms other
than hazardous work, such as commercial sexual exploitation and children engaged in conflict, are still difficult
to come by. Second, children in hazardous work account for the overwhelming majority of those in the worst
forms.
The concepts and definitions used in this Report are discussed in more detail in the Annex.
Note: (a) See “Resolution II, Resolution concerning statistics of child labour” in ILO. Report of the Conference. 18th
International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), document ICLS/18/2008/IV/FINAL, 24 November-5 December 2008,
Geneva.
16
or 17 per cent of the 5-17 years age group.
Behind these headline numbers there are
substantial differences by region, age and sex,
as reported in Table 8. The specific patterns are
discussed in more detail in the following sections
of this chapter. The chapter looks separately at
children in child labour and children in hazardous
work.23
Involvement in child labour
Child labour is the subset of children’s
work that is injurious, negative or undesirable
to children and that should be targeted for
elimination. Three main international conventions
– the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC), the ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst
Forms of Child Labour and the ILO Convention
No. 138 on the Minimum Age – together set the
legal boundaries for child labour, and provide the
legal basis for national and international actions
against it. There are a total of 168 million children
in child labour in the 5-17 years age group
including 120 million in child labour in the 5-14
years age group. In relative terms, 11 per cent of
all 5-17 year-olds and 10 per cent of all 5-14 yearolds, are in child labour.
Child labour by region
Regional differences in involvement in child
labour are considerable: the largest absolute
number of child labourers is found in the Asia and
the Pacific region while Sub-Saharan Africa is the
region with the highest rate of child labour. For
the overall 5-17 years age group, child labourers
number some 77.7 million in Asia and the Pacific,
59.0 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 12.5 million in
Latin America and the Caribbean and 9.2 million
in the Middle East and North Africa.
Seen in relative terms, however, the biggest
concern remains the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
There, more than one in five children (21 per cent)
in the 5-17 years age group are in child labour. This
compares with 9 per cent in Asia and the Pacific
and LAC, and with 8 per cent in MENA.
Figure 3. Child labour by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
(a) Number of children in child labour
by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
MENA
(b) Percentage of children in child labour
by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
9,244
LAC
12,505
Sub-Saharan
Africa
77,723
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
thousands
23
8.4
LAC
8.8
Sub-Saharan
Africa
59,031
Asia and
the Pacific
MENA
21.4
Asia and
the Pacific
9.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
percent
Concepts and definitions used in this Report are discussed in
detail in the Annex.
17
Child labour by age
Children in the 5-11 years age group account
for by far the largest share of child labourers, 73
million in absolute terms and 44 per cent of the
total child labour population. These young child
labourers constitute a particular policy concern as
they are most vulnerable to workplace abuses and
compromised education. The shares of the 1214 and 15-17 years age groups in the total child
labour population are roughly equal at 28 per cent
or 47 million in absolute terms.
© ITCILO/V. Morra
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Figure 4. Child labour distribution by age group,
2012
5-11 years:
44%
15-17 years:
28%
Child labour by sex
12-14 years:
28%
5-11 years
18
12-14 years
15-17 years
While child labour involvement is much higher
among boys than girls for the 5-17 years age
group as a whole (99.8 million versus 68.2 million
girls), this overall gender gap is a reflection entirely
of gender differences in child labour among older
children. There is almost no difference by sex in
the involvement of 5-11 year-olds in child labour
– boys and girls each make up roughly half of the
overall child labour population for this age group.
A gender gap begins to appear in the 12-14
years age range, where boys account for 52 per
cent of all child labourers and outnumber girls
by 2.2 million. The gender gap rises dramatically
in the 15-17 years age range, where boys
account for 81 per cent of all child labourers and
outnumber girls by 29.8 million.
Figure 5. Children in child labour by sex and age group, 2012
(a) Number of children in child labour by sex and age group, 2012
38,669
8,834
15-17 years
22,601
24,780
12-14 years
36,755
36,317
5-11 years
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
thousands
(b) Distribution of children in child labour by sex and age group, 2012
59.4
40.6
5-17 years
50.7
49.3
5-14 years
81.4
18.6
15-17 years
52.3
47.7
12-14 years
49.7
50.3
5-11 years
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
percent
70
80
90
Boys
These figures do not, however, capture
involvement in household chores, a form of
work performed predominantly by girls in
many societies. While, according to the latest
international statistical standards,24 the definition
of child labour for measurement purposes
can extend to include “hazardous household
chores”, this dimension of child labour is not
included in the global estimates. This is due
to data shortcomings and due to the lack of
consensus around what constitutes hazardous
household chores for the purpose of child labour
measurement. Girls may also be more present
24
100
Girls
in less visible and therefore underreported forms
of child labour such as domestic work in private
households.
See “Resolution II, Resolution concerning statistics of child
labour” in ILO. Report of the Conference. 18th International
Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), document
ICLS/18/2008/IV/FINAL. Geneva, 24 November-5 December
2008.
19
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Involvement in hazardous work
Hazardous work by children, which is one aspect
of the worst forms of child labour (see below) ,
is any activity or occupation that, by its nature or
type, has or leads to adverse effects on the child’s
safety, health and moral development.25 More
specifically, hazardous work is work in dangerous
or unhealthy conditions that could result in a
child being killed, injured and/or made ill as a
consequence of poor safety and health standards
and working arrangements.26 The elimination
of hazardous work, therefore, constitutes a
particularly pressing challenge facing the global
community. There are a total of 85 million children
in hazardous work in the 5-17 years age group
and 38 million in hazardous work in the core
5-14 years age group. Hazardous work accounts
for about one-half (51 per cent) of child labour
among 5-17 year-olds and for about one-third (31
per cent) of child labour among 5-14 year-olds.
Hazardous work by region
The largest numbers of children in hazardous
work are again found in the Asia and the Pacific
(33.9 million) and Sub-Saharan Africa (28.8
million) regions. There are 9.6 million children
in hazardous work in the LAC region and 5.2
million in MENA. The percentage of children in
hazardous work is highest in the Sub-Saharan
Africa region (10 per cent), followed by the LAC
region (7 per cent), MENA region (5 per cent) and
Asia and the Pacific region (4 per cent).
Figure 6. Children in hazardous work by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
(a) Number of children in hazardous work
by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
MENA
MENA
5,224
LAC
28,767
Asia and
the Pacific
33,860
0
20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000
thousands
25
Hazardous work is reported separately from the worst forms
generally because of the far greater availability of data on this
aspect of the worst forms of child labour, compared to other
aspects of the problem.
26
See the “hazardous child labour” page at the ILO-IPEC website
at http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/WorstFormsofChildLabour/
Hazardouschildlabour/lang--en/index.htm.
20
4.7
LAC
9,638
Sub-Saharan
Africa
(b) Percentage of children in hazardous work
by region, 5-17 years age group, 2012
6,8
Sub-Saharan
Africa
10.4
Asia and
the Pacific
4.1
0
5
10
15
percent
20
25
Hazardous work by age
Hazardous work by sex
Children aged 15-17 years make up the largest
share of the overall population of 85 million
children in hazardous work, although numbers
of younger children performing hazardous work
also remain considerable. Children aged 15-17
years account for 55 per cent (47.5 million) of all
children in hazardous work, while 12-14 year-olds
account for 23 per cent (19.3 million) and 5-11
year-olds account for 22 per cent (18.5 million).
For the 5-17 years age group as a whole, boys
account for nearly two-thirds of all children in
hazardous work. This pattern, however, is again
driven entirely by older children in the 15-17 years
age group, in which boys account for 81 per cent
of all children in hazardous work (and in child
labour).27 Among younger children, the gender
pattern is in fact the opposite: the number of girls
in hazardous work is greater than that of boys,
and by a considerable margin. For 5-11 yearolds, girls account for 58 per cent of all children
in hazardous work, outnumbering boys by
2.8 million. For 12-14 year-olds, girls account for
56 per cent of all children in hazardous work and
outnumber boys by 2.3 million. It is also worth
recalling again that hazardous household chores,
which are likely predominantly performed by girls,
are not reflected in these figures.
Figure 7. Hazardous work distribution by age
group, 2012
5-11 years:
22%
Forced labour of children
Global estimates of children in worst forms
other than hazardous are not measured directly,
owing to the often hidden and illicit nature of these
extreme forms of child labour and the consequent
lack of reliable data on them in most countries.28
However, according to the 2012 ILO estimate
of forced labour,29 there were about 5.5 million
children30 aged 17 years and below, representing
12-14 years:
23%
15-17 years:
55%
5-11 years
12-14 years
27
Recall that for this age range, child labour is restricted to children
performing hazardous work.
28
Worst forms other than hazardous refer to Art. 3 (a)-(c) of
ILO Convention No. 182: (a) all forms of slavery or practices
similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children,
debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour,
including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for
use in armed conflict; (b) the use, procuring or offering of a
child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or
for pornographic performances; and (c) the use, procuring
or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the
production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant
international treaties. Worst forms other than hazardous are
included in the global estimate to the extent that they also form
part of the measurement of employment below minimum age
and hazardous work by children.
29
The concept “forced or compulsory labour” is all work or service
which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty
and for which the person has not offered himself or herlself
voluntary. It can occur where work is forced upon people by State
authorities, by private enterprises or by individuals. For more
details on methodology and underlying data, see ILO, 2012. ILO
Global Estimate of Forced Labour. Results and Methodology.
30
This figure shows around the same level as what the ILO
estimated in 2002 as that of children in forced or bonded labour
15-17 years
21
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
26 per cent of the global total of 20.9 million
forced labour victims: involved in various forms
of forced labour: for sexual exploitation (960,000
children); forced labour for labour exploitation
(3,780,000); and forced labour imposed by
the State (709,000). While it is not possible to
calculate the exact extent of the overlap, it can
be assumed that many of these child victims of
forced labour are also accounted for as being
engaged in hazardous work. ILO continues to take
(5,7 million) in the very first round of the global child labour
estimates, even though they are not comparable technically
speaking. See ILO-IPEC. Every Child Counts – New Global
Estimates on Child Labour. ILO International Programme on the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2002), p. 25.
further action with a view to refining the estimation
of forced labour of both children and adults,
including the publication of survey guidelines.31
Various efforts are in place to measure directly the
worst forms of child labour other than hazardous
work for future ILO global estimates.32
31
ILO. Hard to see, harder to count – Survey guidelines to
estimate forced labour of adults and children. ILO Special
Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL) and ILO
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
(IPEC). (Geneva, 2012).
32
See, for example, ILO. Sampling elusive populations:
Applications to studies of child labour (forthcoming).
Figure 8. Sectoral distribution of children in child labour, 5-17 years age group, 2012
Not defined
1.9
Industry
7.2
Domestic work
6.9
Agriculture
58.6
Services
25.4
(other than domestic work)
0
10
20
30
40
50
percent
22
60
70
80
90 100
Characteristics of child labour
The new global estimates also provide an
update on the sectors where child labourers are
found. Agriculture is by far the most important
sector, accounting for 59 per cent of all those
in child labour and over 98 million children
in absolute terms. Child labour in agriculture
consists primarily of work on smallholder family
farms, although it also extends to activities such
as livestock production, fishing and aquaculture.
Agriculture is one of the three most dangerous
sectors in terms of work-related fatalities, non-fatal
accidents and occupational diseases.33
The numbers of child labourers in services and
industry are also far from negligible. A total of
54 million are found in the services sector and
12 million in industry. The services sector includes
33
See the “child labour in agriculture” page of the ILO-IPEC
website at: http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Agriculture/lang--en/
index.htm.
domestic work, which involves a total of 11.5
million children. Child labour in the services sector
also includes primarily informal work in hotels and
restaurants, in street selling and other forms of
commerce, in car repair shops and in transport.
Child labour in industry relates primarily to work in
construction and in manufacturing, again mainly
in informal settings.
Boys outnumber girls in all sectors with the
important exception of domestic work, a form of
work that takes place hidden from public view
and outside the reach of workplace inspections,
leaving concerned children particularly vulnerable
to exploitation and abuse.
With respect to status in employment, child
labourers work primarily without being paid by
their own families. Unpaid family workers account
for more than two-thirds of child labourers (68 per
cent), followed by paid employment (23 per cent)
and self-employment (8 per cent).
Figure 9. Children in child labour by status in employment, 5-17 years age group, 2012
Unpaid family workers:
68.4%
Paid employment:
22.5%
Unpaid family workers
Paid employment
Self employment
Self employment:
8.1%
Not defined
Not defined:
1.1%
23
The dynamic picture:
trends in child labour for
the period 2000-2012
3
Overview
The 12-year period beginning in 2000 was one
of significant progress against child labour. While
the total global population of children grew slightly,
there were almost 78 million fewer child labourers
aged 5-17 years at the end of this period than at
the beginning. In relative terms, the percentage
of children in child labour fell from 16 per cent in
2000 to less than 11 per cent in 2012. Progress
against hazardous work directly endangering
children’s health, safety and moral development
was even more rapid, falling by over 85 million
in absolute terms and from 11 to 5 per cent in
relative terms.
Figure 10. Global trends in incidence of child labour and hazardous work, 5-17 years age group,
2000-2012
18
16
16.0
14.2
14
percent
12
13.6
11.1
10.6
10
8.2
8
7.3
5.4
6
4
2
0
2000
2004
Child labour
2008
2012
Hazardous work
25
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Figure 11. Global trends in number of children in child labour and hazardous work, 5-17 years age
group, 2000-2012
number (thousands)
300,000
250,000
200,000
245,500
222,294
215,209
170,500
167,956
128,381
150,000
115,314
85,344
100,000
50,000
0
2000
2004
Child labour
Progress across all categories of child labour
was largest during the most recent, 2008-2012,
period. The overall number of child labourers
aged 5-17 years decreased by 47 million, from
215 to 168 million, over this period.
26
2008
2012
Hazardous work
The overall number of children in hazardous
work declined by 30 million, from 115 million in
2008 to 85 million in 2012.
Table 9. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by sex and age group, 2000-2012
Total children
World
(5-17 years)
Children in employment
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
2000
1,531,400
351,900
23.0
245,500
16.0
170,500
11.1
2004
1,566,300
322,729
20.6
222,294
14.2
128,381
8.2
2008
1,586,288
305,669
19.3
215,209
13.6
115,314
7.3
2012
1,585,566
264,427
16.7
167,956
10.6
85,344
5.4
2000
786,500
184,200
23.4
132,200
16.8
95,700
12.2
2004
804,000
171,150
21.3
119,575
14.9
74,414
9.3
2008
819,891
175,777
21.4
127,761
15.6
74,019
9.0
2012
819,877
148,327
18.1
99,766
12.2
55,048
6.7
2000
744,900
167,700
22.5
113,300
15.2
74,800
10.0
2004
762,300
151,579
19.9
102,720
13.5
53,966
7.1
2008
766,397
129,892
16.9
87,508
11.4
41,296
5.4
2012
765,690
116,100
15.2
68,190
8.9
30,296
4.0
2000
1,199,400
211,000
17.6
186,300
15.5
111,300
9.3
2004
1,206,500
196,047
16.2
170,383
14.1
76,470
6.3
2008
1,216,854
176,452
14.5
152,850
12.6
52,895
4.3
2012
1,221,071
144,066
11.8
120,453
9.9
37,841
3.1
2000
332,000
140,900
42.4
59,200
17.8
59,200
17.8
2004
359,800
126,682
35.2
51,911
14.4
51,911
14.4
2008
369,433
129,217
35.0
62,419
16.9
62,419
16.9
2012
364,495
120,362
33.0
47,503
13.0
47,503
13.0
Sex
Boys
Girls
Age group
5-14 years
15-17 years
Table 10. Children in employment, child labour and hazardous work by region, 5-17 years age group,
2008 and 2012(a)
Region
Asia and the Pacific
Children
population
Children in
employment
Child labour
Hazardous work
(‘000)
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
(‘000)
%
2008
853,895
174,460
20.4
113,607
13.3
48,164
5.6
2012
835,334
129,358
15.5
77,723
9.3
33,860
4.1
Latin America and the
Caribbean
2008
141,043
18,851
13.4
14,125
10.0
9,436
6.7
2012
142,693
17,843
12.5
12,505
8.8
9,638
6.8
Sub-Saharan Africa
2008
257,108
84,229
32.8
65,064
25.3
38,736
15.1
2012
275,397
83,570
30.3
59,031
21.4
28,767
10.4
Note: (a) Results concerning regional trends in child labour are presented for 2008 and 2012 only, due to data limitations in
the global estimates prior to 2008.
27
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Trends in child labour
The number of children aged 5-17 years in
child labour fell by almost 78 million globally over
the period from 2000 to 2012. The proportion of
children in child labour declined from 16 per cent
to under 11 per cent over the same period. Again,
progress over the most recent four-year period was
especially marked. Child labour fell by 47 million
in absolute terms and by 3 percentage points in
relative terms from 2008 to 2012. Trends in child
labour by region, age range and sex are discussed
below.
Regional trends in child labour
Results concerning regional trends in child
labour are limited to the 2008-2012 period due
to data limitations in the global estimates prior to
2008. Child labour among children aged 5-17
years declined in both absolute and relative terms
in the Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and
Caribbean (LAC) and Sub-Saharan Africa regions
during the 2008-2012 period. Asia and the Pacific
registered by far the largest decline in the number
of child labourers, from 114 million in 2008 to 78
million in 2012. The number of child labourers
also decreased in Sub-Saharan Africa (by
6 million), and modestly in LAC (by 1.6 million).
The decline in the percentage of 5-17 year-olds
in child labour during 2008-2012 was also largest
in the Asia and the Pacific region (4 percentage
points), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa
(3.9 percentage points) and LAC (1.2 percentage
points).
The net impact of these regional trends is that
the population of child labourers is becoming
more concentrated in the Sub-Saharan Africa
region. Figure 14, which reports changes in the
regional distribution of child labour for the 5-17
years age for the 2008-2012 period, illustrates
this point. While Sub-Saharan Africa accounted
for 30 per cent of all 5-17 year-olds in child labour
in 2008, four years later this figure had risen to
about 35 per cent. At the same time, the share of
total child labour accounted for by the Asia and
the Pacific region fell dramatically, from 53 to 46
per cent, for the same 5-17 years age group over
the 2008-2012 period.
Figure 12. Regional trends in number of children in child labour, 5-17 years age group,
2008 and 2012
120,000
2008
113,607
2012
number (thousands)
100,000
80,000
77,723
65,064
59,031
60,000
40,000
20,000
14,125
12,505
0
Asia and the Pacific
28
Latin America and
the Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
Figure 13. Regional trends in incidence of child labour, 5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012
2008
30
2012
25.3
25
21.4
percent
20
15
13.3
9.3
10
10.0
8.8
5
0
Asia and the Pacific
Latin America and
the Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
Figure 14. Changes in the regional distribution of children in child labour, 5-17 years age group, 2008
and 2012(a)
100
90
80
30.6
70
percent
60
35.1
6.5
50
7.4
40
30
52.7
20
46.2
10
0
2008
Asia and the Pacific
2012
Latin America and the Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
Note: (a) Distribution sums to less than 100 because countries that are outside of the three main regions are not shown here.
29
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Age-specific trends in child labour
The decline in child labour over the 2000-2012
period also extended to all age groups, but was
particularly pronounced among younger children.
Child labour among 5-14 year-olds fell by over
one-third (65.8 million) in absolute terms between
2000 and 2012. Progress fluctuated among
older, 15-17 year-old, children. This group saw an
11.7 million absolute decline in child labour over
the 2000-2012 period, but this overall decline
masked a sharp rise in child labour among 15-17
year-olds in the 2004-2008 period.
The decline in child labour for each age group
was also very significant when seen in relative
terms. The share of children in child labour fell
from 15.5 per cent to 9.9 per cent among 5-14
year-olds and from 17.8 per cent to 13 per cent
among 15-17 year-olds over the 12-year period
from 2000 to 2012 (Figure 15b).
Figure 15. Trends in child labour by age group, 2000-2012
60,000
2004
13.0
14.4
16.9
17.8
9.9
6
2
2000
12.6
8
20,000
15-17 years
14.1
10
4
5-14 years
15.5
12
40,000
0
30
percent
80,000
51,911
100,000
47,503
14
62,419
120,000
16
59,200
thousands
140,000
18
120,453
160,000
(b) Incidence of children in child labour by age group,
2000-2012
20
152,850
180,000
170,383
200,000
186,300
(a) Number of children in child labour by age group,
2000-2012
0
2008
5-14 years
2012
15-17 years
Gender-specific trends in child labour
Progress against child labour during the
2000‑2012 period extended to both boys
and girls. The fall in girls in child labour
was particularly pronounced – in the period
2000‑2012 there was a reduction of 40 per cent
in the number of girls in child labour as compared
to 25 per cent for boys.
The decline in child labour among girls aged
5-17 years was consistent across the 12-year
period and totaled 45.1 million in absolute terms
and 6.3 percentage points in relative terms
(Figure 16). Child labour among boys in the same
age range fell by 32.4 million and 4.6 percentage
points, although this overall decline masked a
slight rise over the 2004-2008 period.
Figure 16. Trends in child labour by sex, 5-17 years age group, 2000-2012
60,000
8.9
11.4
12
13.5
12.2
15.2
15.6
14
percent
80,000
14.9
16
68,190
102,720
18
16.8
(b) Incidence of children in child labour by sex,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012
87,508
100,000
thousands
113,300
127,761
99,766
120,000
119,575
140,000
132,200
(a) Number of children in child labour by sex,
5-17 years age group 2000-2012
10
8
6
40,000
4
20,000
2
0
0
Boys
Girls
2000
2004
(c) Child labour and its sex distribution,
5-17 years age group, 2000-2012
100
90
percent
80
70
46.2
46.2
40.7
40.6
53.8
53.8
59.3
59.4
60
50
40
30
20
Boys
2008
Girls
2012
The magnitude of the decline in child labour
among girls was greater than that of boys, and the
gender gap in terms of involvement in employment
therefore increased over the 2000-2012 period.
As reported Figure 16c, while girls accounted for
46.2 per cent of all child labourers in 2000 they
accounted for only 40.6 per cent in 2012.
10
0
2000
2004
Boys
2008
2012
Girls
31
© ILO/M. Crozet
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Trends in hazardous work
Reducing children’s involvement in hazardous
work is again the most urgent child labour-related
challenge facing the global community and the
significant progress in this regard over the 20002012 period is therefore especially noteworthy.
The total number of children aged 5-17 years
in hazardous work declined by over half over
the 12‑year period, from 171 to 85 million. The
relative decline was equally marked, from 11 per
cent of all 5-17 year-olds in 2000 to 5 per cent in
2012.
The global decline in hazardous work outpaced
that of child labour generally, meaning that the
hazardous work content of child labour declined
over the 2000-2012 period. As reported in
Figure 17b, while 70 per cent of child labourers
performed hazardous work in 2000, this figure
declined to 51 per cent in 2012. In other words,
there were fewer children in child labour in 2012
compared to 2000, and those remaining in child
labour were less likely to be performing hazardous
work.
Figure 17. Relative changes in child labour and hazardous work, 5-17 years age group, 2000-2012
(a) Number of children in hazardous work and other child labour,
2000-2012
(b) Hazardous work as a percentage of child labour,
2000-2012
70
250,000
60
25,000
85,344
50,000
50.8
40
30
10
0
0
2000
2004
Other child labour
32
53.6
20
115,314
128,381
75,000
percent
125,000
100,000
57.8
50
82,612
150,000
170,500
thousands
175,000
99,895
200,000
93,913
75,000
225,000
69.5
2008
2012
Hazardous work
2000
2004
2008
2012
Age-specific trends in hazardous work
The decline in hazardous work over the
2000-2012 period extended to all age groups
but was especially pronounced among younger
children. Numbers of children aged 5-14 years
in hazardous work fell by two-thirds, from 111.3
million to 37.8 million, between 2000 and 2012.
Progress was slower but also very significant
among older, 15-17 year-old, children. This group
saw an absolute decline of about one-fifth, from
59.2 to 47.5 million, in numbers in hazardous
work (Figure 18a). For 15-17 year-olds, the
decline in hazardous work during the most recent,
2008-2012, period was particularly pronounced,
and came after a significant increase in hazardous
work in the previous 2004-2008 period. Seen
in relative terms, the share of 5-14 year-olds in
hazardous work fell from 9 to 3 per cent, while the
share of 15-17 year-olds in hazardous work fell
from 17.8 per cent to 13 per cent, over the 20002012 period (Figure 18b).
Figure 18. Trends in hazardous work by age group, 2000-2012
(b) Incidence of children in hazardous work
by age group, 2000-2012
40,000
percent
13.0
12
10
9.3
8
6
6.3
4.3
3.1
4
20,000
16.9
14.4
14
47,503
62,419
59,200
51,911
60,000
16
37,841
thousands
80,000
17.8
18
52,895
100,000
20
76,470
120,000
111,300
(a) Number of children in hazardous work
by age group, 2000-2012
2
0
0
5-14 years
5-14 years
15-17 years
2000
2004
2008
15-17 years
2012
33
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Gender-specific trends in hazardous work
Progress in reducing hazardous work during
the 2000-2012 period extended to both boys
and girls. Hazardous work among girls aged 5-17
years declined by more than half in both absolute
and relative terms, from 74.8 million in 2000 to
30.3 million in 2012 (Figure 19a), and from 10
per cent in 2000 to 4 per cent in 2012 (Figure
19b). The reduction among boys was smaller but
nonetheless also very significant. There were 40.7
million fewer boys in hazardous work in 2012 than
in 2000; the percentage of boys in hazardous
work was almost 6 percentage points lower in
2012 compared to 2000.
Figure 19. Trends in hazardous work by sex, 5-17 years age group, 2000-2012
30,000
10,000
2
2004
7.1
5.4
4.0
0
Girls
2000
6.7
6
4
Boys
10.0
9.3 9.0
8
20,000
0
34
percent
40,000
12.2
10
30,296
50,000
12
41,296
thousands
60,000
14
53,966
55,048
70,000
16
74,800
80,000
74,019
90,000
18
74,414
100,000
(b) Incidence of children in hazardous work by sex,
2000-2012
95,700
(a) Number of children in hazardous work by sex,
2000-2012
Boys
2008
2012
Girls
Changes in the characteristics of child labour
There appears to have been an increase in the
relative importance of child labour in services in
recent years. The share of total child labourers in
services rose from 26 per cent in 2008 to 32 per
cent in 2012 (Figure 20). Some of this increase
could be due in part to the fact that fewer child
labourers are in “not defined” category in 2012,
pointing to a better measurement of children in
services sector, in particular those in the informal
economy.
These global results are mirrored in national
results for countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and
Indonesia which also show that child labour
outside the agriculture sector, and particularly
child labour in services, is gaining in relative
importance.
While addressing child labour in the agriculture
sector remains the most important priority, it is
clear that child labour elimination efforts must
also address the growing share of child labourers
working outside this sector.
The composition by status in employment,
reported in Figure 20b, indicates a small shift
towards self-employment between 2008 and
2012.
Figure 20. Child labour trends in the economic sector and in the status in the employment,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012
(a) Distribution of children in child labour by economic sector,
5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012
(b) Distribution
ibution of children in child labour by status in
employment,
oyment, 5-17 years age group, 2008 and 2012
2
2008
7.4
Paid employment:
21.4%
Self
employment:
5%
Not defined
1.9
7.0
Industry
Not defined:
6%
7.2
Unpaid family workers:
67.5%
25.6
2012
Services
32.3
Paid employment:
22.5%
Self
employment:
8.1%
60.0
Agriculture
58.6
0
10
20
30
40
50
percent
2008
60
70
80
90 100
Unpaid family workers:
68.4%
Not defined:
1.1%
Unpaid family workers
Self employment
Paid employment
Not defined
2012
35
Looking forward
This fourth edition of the Global Estimates
paints a picture of both important progress, and
of substantial remaining challenges. On the one
hand, the sustained global efforts against child
labour over the past 12 years appear to have
borne fruit – child labour fell by almost a third and
hazardous work by over half in the period from
2000 to 2012. On the other hand, the pace of
progress still remains much too slow to achieve
the goal of eliminating its worst forms by 2016.
Taking into account the information presented
in Chapters I, 2 and 3 and of other ILO/IPEC
knowledge, experience and lessons learned, a
number of key observations emerge on the needs
and challenges faced by ILO constituents and
the worldwide movement, and on potential ways
to accelerate the effort to eliminate child labour.
These elements are consistent with and reinforce
the broader set of recommendations contained
in the Hague Roadmap and the global action
plans endorsed by the ILO’s Governing Body,
while at the same time draw attention to new
developments. They are intended to provide input
into the discussions at the III Global Conference
on Child Labour to be hosted by the Brazilian
Government in Brasilia from 8-10 October 2013.
Improving statistical data bases at global and
national levels. While the child labour estimates
presented in this Report are global in scope, the
availability and quality of the data upon which
they are based differs widely across countries
4
and regions. There are still relatively few data
on child labour in the Eastern European and
Central Asia regions, in the Pacific sub-region,
in the industrialised economies and in several
Asian countries. Data on child labour are now
available for many Sub-Saharan Africa countries,
but data on hazardous work remain much more
limited, and comparable data over time, needed
for monitoring and assessing trends, remain
inadequate in the region. There is a need for
national statistics institutions to fill these data
gaps in order to permit the effective monitoring
of progress against child labour at the national,
regional and global levels. Continued attention to
the disaggregation of data by sex, age and other
characteristics remains important.
A multi-faceted policy response. The global
estimates indicate clearly that child labour
is not a phenomenon limited to the poorest
countries, though it remains most prevalent
among the poorest families and communities.
This suggests that relying on national income
growth alone will not be sufficient to eliminate
the child labour of what is still far too large a
number of children. Rather, there is a need for
an active policy response addressing the entire
range of social and economic factors leading to
children’s involvement in child labour – including
family and child poverty. Past experience and
evidence from research highlight the need to
reinforce actions across all four broad policy
37
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
© ITCILO/V. Morra
areas: legislation, education, social protection
and labour market policy. First, continued efforts
are needed to expand access of girls and boys
to free, relevant and quality basic education,
which promotes quality learning and flexible skills
development. Second, there is a need to build
social protection floors to prevent vulnerable
families from resorting to child labour to cope with
economic and social vulnerability. The ILO Social
Protection Floors Recommendation (No. 202) of
2012 provides a key framework for efforts in this
regard. Third, decent work opportunities need
to be expanded for youth above the minimum
age for admission to employment in order to
provide families with an incentive to invest in their
children’s education earlier in the lifecycle and for
adults in general to ensure improved and more
secure family incomes. Fourth, there is a need
to continue strengthening the legal frameworks
of all fundamental principles and rights at work,
with an emphasis on appropriate identification,
prohibition and protection against hazardous
38
work, on improving the responsiveness of labour
inspection and law enforcement mechanisms to deal
with child labour cases, and on ensuring the rights of
employers’ and workers’ organzations to contribute
to combating child labour in enterprises – especially
in the informal economy. Finally, greater awareness
is needed of the benefits of education, of the health
and developmental costs of child labour, and of the
basic national rules on the minimum working age
and work prohibited for children so that households
are able to make informed choices concerning
the allocation of their children’s time between the
classroom and working.
Age and gender specific responses. Child labour
remains relevant throughout the 5-17 years age
spectrum. Just under half of all child labourers
are aged less than 12 years and a renewed effort
is needed to ensure that all children under the
minimum working age are receiving free and good
quality compulsory education under conditions
that foster learning for girls as well as boys.
The most significant decline in child labour
occurred among girls and gender focused
measures must continue to be implemented.
At the same time, specific policies need to be
introduced and reinforced for older children of
working age, whose participation in work is also
linked more to general labour market conditions.
This requires ensuring specific safeguards for
children above the minimum age of employment
but under the age of 18. An integrated policy
approach - within the broad framework of the
ILO Decent Work Agenda - is necessary in this
context, addressing both boys and girls in child
labour among older children and the wider youth
employment issues.
A focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. ILO action plans
call for a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
and the statistics presented in the current Report
indicate that this call remains valid. Although
the decline in child labour during 2008-2012
offers some cause for optimism, Sub-Saharan
Africa is still the region where children face by
far the highest risk of child labour and also the
region where progress has been slowest and least
consistent. An enhanced focus and support
for the development and full implementation of
national action plans for the elimination of child
labour, especially its worst forms, and the scaling
© ITCILO/G. Palazzo
up and replication of pilot projects, knowledge
building and integration of child labour into national
development agendas is called for as a priority.
A continued focus on agriculture and a new
focus on other sectors. The agriculture sector still
accounts for the largest share of child labourers,
but evidence cited in this Report indicates that the
make-up of child labour is beginning to change.
Child labour outside the agriculture sector, and
particularly in services, is gaining in relative
importance. The policy implications of these
changes are clear. While addressing child labour
in the agriculture sector remains critical, child
labour elimination efforts must also address the
growing share of child labour occurring within the
informal economy in services and the substantial
numbers of child labourers in the informal
economy in different areas of manufacturing.
This also requires the development of further
work with the relevant employers’ and workers’
organizations in the sectors concerned. Within
the services sector, attention to child domestic
workers is especially important given their
heightened vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.
The ILO Domestic Workers Convention (No.189)
and Recommendation (No. 201) of 2011 offer an
important framework in this regard.
Building the knowledge base, monitoring
and evaluation. Insufficient information cannot
be a justification for a failure to act. But at the
same time, improving information about and
monitoring mechanisms of child labour is critical
to strengthening policy responses and to making
certain that resources will be directed to where
they will have the greatest effect. While there has
been considerable progress in recent years in
terms of improving understanding of child labour,
key knowledge gaps remain. Particularly important
in this context is knowledge on policy impact –
including both social and labour market policies.
This highlights the need for substantial additional
investment in systematic impact assessments and
evaluations of interventions in relevant policy areas
in order to identify which policy approaches work
best against child labour, in which circumstances
and why. The factors driving child labour in nonpoor households constitute another important
knowledge gap. A third knowledge gap relates to
the relationship between child labour and youth
employment. Integrated responses to child labour
and youth employment issues require better
information about the specific ways that child
labour influences youth employment outcomes,
and vice versa.
International cooperation and partnerships.
While national governments have the primary
responsibility to end child labour, social partners
have important roles to play. Efforts to utilize
social dialogue and recognize the contribution
of labour relations to the elimination of child
labour appear to be paying off in a number of
countries. Stepping up the close involvement
of the social partners will enhance national
ownership and sustainability. Where national
resources for action are limited in the countries
concerned, it is imperative that international
cooperation, partnerships and assistance continue
to be undertaken in the spirit of Article 8 of ILO
Convention No. 182. A decline of international
cooperation and partnership at this juncture
would jeopardize much of the progress made
to date. The fact that real progress at such a
significant rate is being made should be a magnet
for more cooperation. The contribution to child
labour elimination is one of the best returning
investments in social and economic development,
poverty eradication and human rights in the
21st century. With the ILO’s leadership, other
agencies’ cooperation and the engagement of the
worldwide movement, we can, through mutual
assistance and national ownership, continue to
make progress against child labour.
39
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Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). (Geneva).
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UCW (2011). Understanding the Brazilian
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Drawing policy lessons from the Brazilian
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43
Annex:
concepts and definitions
Concepts and definitions34
Three main international conventions – the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC), the International Labour Organization
(ILO) Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of
Child Labour and the ILO Convention No. 138 on
the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
– together set the legal boundaries for child
labour and provide the legal basis for national and
international actions against it. The Resolution
concerning statistics of child labour (Resolution II)
adopted by the 18th International Conference of
Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in 200835 translates
these legal standards into statistical terms for
the purpose of child labour measurement. The
statistical concepts and definitions used in this
Report are in accordance with this ICLS resolution.
Children in employment are those engaged in
any economic activity for at least one hour during
the reference period. Economic activity covers
all market production and certain types of nonmarket production (principally the production of
goods and services for own use).
34
For a more detailed discussion of the methodology used, see
ILO-IPEC. Diallo, Y., et al. Global child labour trends 2008 to
2012. ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2013).
35
See “Resolution II, Resolution concerning statistics of child
labour” in ILO. Report of the Conference. 18th International
Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), document
ICLS/18/2008/IV/FINAL. Geneva, 24 November-5 December
2008.
It includes forms of work in both the formal
and informal economy; inside and outside family
settings; work for pay or profit (in cash or in kind,
part-time or full-time), or as a domestic worker
outside the child’s own household for an employer
(with or without pay).
The terms “working children”, “children
in economic activity” and “children in
employment” are used interchangeably in this
publication. All denote a broader concept than
“child labour”.
Children in child labour are a subset of
children in employment. Children in child labour
include those in worst forms of child labour and
children in employ­ment below the minimum age,
excluding children in permissible light work, if
appli­cable. Child labour is therefore a narrower
concept than “children in employment”, excluding
all those children who are working only a few
hours a week in permitted light work and those
above the minimum age whose work is not
classified as a worst form of child labour, or as
“hazardous work” in particular.
Hazardous work by children is any activity or
occupation that, by its nature or type, has or leads
to adverse effects on the child’s safety, health
(physical or mental) and moral development.
Hazards could also derive from excessive
workload, physical conditions of work, and/or work
intensity in terms of the duration or hours of work
even where the activity or occupation is known to
45
MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Figure 21. Children in employment, child labour and worst forms of child labour
Children in
employment
be non-hazardous or “safe”.
In sum, “hazardous work”, which is taken
as a proxy to the “worst forms of child labour”,
is a subset of “child labour”, which is in turn, a
subset of children in “employment” (or “working
children”), as illustrated in Figure 21.
ILO global estimation
For the purpose of global estimation, a
specific sequential procedure for measuring child
labour has been adopted within the framework
of the international standards as schematically
represented in Figure 22.
As indicated in the diagram, the total of
children in designated hazardous industries,
children in designated hazardous occupations,
children with long hours of work and children
working in other hazardous work conditions make
up in aggregate the total number of children in
hazardous work. For the purposes of calculating
the global and regional estimates, hazardous
unpaid household activities by children are
excluded from the methodology since only a few
countries provided the necessary data on unpaid
household services (household chores) carried
out by children at home. Some technical issues
regarding thresholds and combined economic
activities and unpaid household services also need
to be settled before full measurement of child
labour on the basis on the general production
boundary can be adequately carried out.
The final estimate of child labour is then
obtained by adding to the total number of children
in hazardous work, the number of other children
46
Hazardous work and other
worst forms of child labour
Child labour
aged 5 to 11 years who were engaged in any
economic activity during the reference period
(employment below minimum age), and the
number of other children 12 to 14 years old who
were engaged in an economic activity that could
not be considered as permissible light work during
the reference period.
Permissible light work is defined in the present
context as any non-hazardous work by children
(12 to 14 years) of less than 14 hours during the
reference week. The 14-hour threshold was also
used in earlier ILO global estimations. The choice
was based on provisions in the ILO Convention
(No. 33) on the Minimum Age (Non-Industrial
Employment), 1932, which sets two hours per
day, on either school days or holidays, as the
maximum for light work from the age of 12 years.36
In this process, children in worst forms of
child labour other than hazardous work by
children are not measured directly. They are
included in the global estimate to the extent
that they also form part of the measurement of
employment below minimum age and hazardous
work by children. It is hoped that with improved
methodology this category of child labour can be
measured directly in future ILO global estimates.
36
Article 3 (para. 1) of the Convention states that “Children over
twelve years of age may, outside the hours fixed for school
attendance, be employed on light work (a) which is not harmful
to their health or normal development; (b) which is not such as
to prejudice their attendance at school or their capacity to benefit
from the instruction there given; and (c) the duration of which
does not exceed two hours per day on either school days or
holidays, the total number of hours spent at school and on light
work in no case to exceed seven per day” (emphasis added).
Figure 22. Conceptual framework of the ILO global estimation of child labour
Children in employment
(5-17 years old)
ICLS Res., para 12
In designated
hazardous industries
In other industries
In designated
hazardous occupations
In other occupations
ICLS Res., para 27
ICLS Res., para 25-26
Long hours of work
Not long hours
of work
In other hazardous
work conditions
Non hazardous
work conditions
ICLS Res., para 28-30
ICLS Res., para 24
In hazardous work
by children
ICLS Res., para 21-30
Hazardous(ª) unpaid
household activities
by children
5-11 yrs
ICLS Res., para 32
14+ hrs
12-14 yrs 15-17 yrs
ICLS Res., para 33-35
Light work
(<14 hrs)
ICLS Res., para 36-37
Not child labour
Child labour
ICLS Res., para 14-37
Source: ILO-IPEC. Hagemann F., et al. Global child labour trends 2000 to 2004. ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC). (Geneva, ILO, 2006), with reference to the Resolution concerning statistics of child labour of ILO. Report of the Conference.
18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS). Document ICLS/18/2008/IV/FINAL. Geneva, 24 November-5 December 2008.
Note: (a) This term “hazardous” in the context of unpaid household services (as found in the 18th ICLS resolution paragraphs 15 (c), 36 and
37) may in fact include the element of hindrance to education or other criteria wider than ‘hazardous’ economic activity (covered by the ICLS
resolution paragraph 17 (d)) that requires the minimum age of 18 years under Convention No. 138 and to be included as a worst form of
child labour prohibited by Convention No. 182.
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MARKING PROGRESS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR - GLOBAL ESTIMATES AND TRENDS 2000-2012
Methodology and underlying data
Some 75 national data sets were used for the
ILO 2012 global estimation of child labour. Data
are derived from national household surveys
carried out between 2008 and 2012. In all, 53
countries from all the major world regions were
covered by the surveys. Some countries provided
multiple data sets across different years.
The data sets used in the estimates go back to
specialized surveys on child labour (ILO/SIMPOC);
national labour force surveys or other national
household surveys such as the UNICEF Multiple
Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) or the World
Bank Living Standards Measurement Studies
(LSMS).
On the basis of the 75 data sets, two samples
of countries were constructed for the purpose
of global estimation. The first is called the full
sample, the second is the matched sample.
The full sample contains the latest data sets of the
53 countries, i.e. the data sets closest to 2012.
It was used to construct a direct estimate of child
labour in the world for the year 2012.
The matched sample, consisting of 29 countries
for which data sets were also available in the
previous global estimates, helped to control
variability and contributed to improving the
accuracy of the estimates.
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Since national household surveys on child
labour often differ with regard to: (i) age
groups covered; (ii) types of questions asked;
(iii) response categories included in the
questionnaires; and (iv) the extent of missing
values, data had to be harmonized prior to the
estimation exercise.
The regional and global estimates of child
labour are derived by extrapolation of national
data using a composite estimation method.
It involved three basic steps: (i) an estimation
based on the full sample or the “direct
estimation”, (ii) an estimation based on the
matched sample or the “indirect estimation”,
and (iii) a “composite estimation” based on the
full and matched samples together. The latter
maximizes the advantages and minimizes the
drawbacks associated with the direct and indirect
estimates. This approach is fully comparable with
the one used in the previous global estimates.